No Hiding Place: An edge of your seat mystery/thriller. (DI Sally Parker thrillers Book 2) (21 page)

“I see. So you haven’t had the
chance to really question the mother then? What about the victim’s
relatives? Have you contacted them?”

“No. I was planning on going
back out there today to question Mr. Whiting’s mother, when time
permitted. As for Mrs. Whiting’s next of kin, I think Mr. Whiting
took care of that. He rang them from the hospital.”

“That one sentence tells me
that you had no real intention of handing the case over to us as
you previously suggested, Jarvis. You need to get your story
straight, man. As for
thinking
someone has already done your
job for you, well…” Sally had heard enough. Evidently, if she
needed to know anything about the case, she would need to take
control of the investigation herself. “Jack, do me a favour and
escort Mr. Jarvis out of the office.”

“Yes, boss.” Jack tapped the
detective on the shoulder and motioned for him to leave the office.
“Come on, son.”

“You’re making me out to be the
criminal here. I find that grossly unfair and offensive, if you
don’t mind me saying, ma’am,” the constable blustered as he stood
up, ready to follow Jack.

“I’m doing nothing of the sort.
There are specific procedures in place for us to follow, which you
clearly have neglected to do. I suggest you take the matter higher
if you think I have misread the situation. But I think you’ll find
any complaint you raise against me will be regarded as trivial,
once you share how inept you’ve been in the case so far.”

Jack winked at her and left the
room with the constable. She took her shoe off and threw it at the
door once it was closed. Retrieving her shoe, she picked up the
phone and rang the pathology department. “Simon, it’s DI Sally
Parker.”

“Hello, Inspector. It’s been a
few months since we last spoke. What can I do for you?”

“I’m assuming the body hasn’t
arrived yet.”

“Body? Any
body
in
particular?”

“A Mrs. Kathy Whiting.”

“Not yet. Why does that name
sound familiar?”

“As in the
second
wife
of Mr. Mark Whiting, the deceased Gemma Whiting’s husband.”

“Really? He remarried, and now
the second wife is also dead?”

“That pretty much sums it up in
a nutshell, Simon. I’ll need your guys to go out to the scene. This
time, the murder took place inside the marital home.”

“When did this occur,
Inspector?”

“Around sixish last night.”

“Okay, here’s a very obvious
question for you. Why am I just hearing about this case now?”

“Precisely. Don’t ask. Put it
down to incompetent policing by a constable—not on my team, I
hasten to add. He’s been ripped to shreds, I can assure you.
Anyway, the poor woman died from her injuries in hospital last
night. Can I ask you to prioritise the PM for me?”

“Of course. I’ll get on to the
hospital after our call is over and chase up the corpse. Maybe this
will mean you can finally conclude Gemma’s case and bang Mark
Whiting up for good.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping,
too. Shame we couldn’t have done it before he took another life. If
he’s guilty, that is.”

“I believe that it’s going to
be hard for him to persuade you otherwise.”

“I’m on my way out to the house
to see Whiting now.”

“I’ll send a team out when one
becomes available, Inspector. Good luck, I’ll get the report back
to you sharpish, once I’ve carried out the post.”

“I appreciate it, Simon.”

Two cars were parked behind one
another in the drive when Sally and Jack arrived at Whiting’s
house.

“Looks like he’s got company,”
Jack noted as they walked up the path to the front door.

Sally rang the bell.

Seconds later, Mark Whiting
opened the door. He looked shocked to see them. “What are you doing
here?”

“Mind if we come in for a word,
Mr. Whiting? It’s in connection with the crime that was reported
last night.”

Mark wrenched open the door,
and it clattered against the wall. Sally and Jack followed the
disgruntled man through to the kitchen. Mark sat at the kitchen
table next to his mother and daughter.

“Hello, Mrs. Whiting, nice to
see you again. Sorry it’s under difficult circumstances once
more.”

“Inspector. This is a very sad
time for all of us. Can’t your questions wait twenty-four
hours?”

“I’m sorry. No, they can’t. Can
I ask you and Samantha to leave the room while we have a chat with
Mark?”

Yvette glared at her for a
split second then shrugged reluctantly and grasped her
granddaughter’s hand. “Come on, Samantha. Let’s see where Teddy’s
got to, eh?”

“Yes, Grandma. I think he fell
under the bed last night. I forgot to pick him up. Poor thing has
been in the dark all night.”

“We’ll go and rescue him,”
Yvette said as they left the room, closing the kitchen door behind
them.

Sally and Jack sat down in the
chairs vacated by Yvette and her granddaughter. Jack took out his
notebook and pen then waited for Sally to ask the questions.

“Why don’t you tell us what
happened here last night, Mark?”

He placed his head in his hands
and ran them back and forth through his short hair. His eyes looked
sore, as if he’d spent the night crying. The scene didn’t really
touch Sally, though—she’d been subjected to numerous displays of
play-acting over the years. “I told the constable who showed up
here last night.”

“Did he take down a
statement?”

“No. I wouldn’t have done it
anyway. My priority was getting my wife to hospital for the care
she needed to keep her alive. Lot of good that did her,” Mark
replied, his voice quavering a little.

“Okay, I’d like you to run
through the events of last night. What time did you get home?”

“I was at work until five
forty. I got home just before six o’clock.”

“Where did you find your
wife?”

“In the lounge. Do you want me
to show you?”

“Later. Was there anyone else
in the house when you got home?”

“Yes, Mum was in the lounge.
She was in shock. I found her staring at the body.”

Sally raised an eyebrow. “And
yet it was you who called the police. Is that right?”

“Yes, she was too traumatised
to do anything, Inspector.”

“We’ll need to speak to your
mother, in that case, as she was the one who discovered your wife.
Did she say how long it had been since she’d found Kathy?”

“A matter of minutes, I think.
Like I say, she was too shocked to say or do anything.”

“I see. She seems okay
today.”

“I suppose she’s come to terms
with Kathy’s death. She’s been a tower of strength to me, caring
for Samantha while I was at the hospital last night.”

“That’s what mothers do, Mark,
in circumstances such as this. Why was your mother here last night?
Does she live with you now?”

“No. I’m not sure why she was
here, to be honest. She’s here most of the time. Never needs an
excuse to pop round to see her grandchild. She’s an integral part
of our family life. Both Kathy and I work full time, and Mum cares
for Samantha after school most nights.”

“That’s reassuring to have
childcare on tap like that. So what time did Kathy come home from
work?”

“About five fifteen. She worked
as a secretary at the local school. She’s never later than
that.”

“Did your mother see her
attacker?”

“No. She said she was in the
kitchen, fixing dinner. She heard shouting and things crashing on
the floor not long after Kathy returned home and then silence. Mum
ran into the lounge to find Kathy lying in a pool of blood and the
front door wide open.”

“Hence you thinking that a
burglar had entered your home? I have to say that it’s very rare
that burglars attack people, in our experience.”

“What if she disturbed him in
the act? Wouldn’t he lash out before he took off?”

“Probably, but then not enough
to kill someone. They usually worry about their escape before
hitting attack mode. There again, we could be looking at a whole
different breed of burglar here. So, you walked in a few minutes
later. Is that correct?”

“Approximately five minutes
later. The first thing I did was check to see if Kathy was
breathing, then I rang for an ambulance. Mum was still traumatised
when the paramedics turned up about ten minutes later.”

“Could you see the injuries
Kathy had suffered? Or did the doctor say what injuries had
occurred?”

“She was beaten around the head
mostly. The blood was everywhere. I got covered when I hugged her
to me. You should see the walls and the ceiling—it’s everywhere.
Thank God Mum ordered Samantha to stay in her room.” He swallowed
hard, and tears welled up in his eyes.

“We’ll see for ourselves soon
enough. I’ve instructed a team of Scenes of Crime Officers to join
us. They’ll need to search for DNA evidence, of course.”

“Of course. When can we start
clearing up?”

“Seems a strange thing to ask,
Mark,” Sally retorted quickly.

“I have a five-year-old
daughter, Inspector. I was hoping life could return to normal
swiftly for her sake. I’m sorry, maybe that was selfish of me to
say that. Kathy meant the world to me. My mind is all over the
place.”

Sally tilted her head. On one
hand, she could understand his reasoning. On the other, she had
never come across a victim’s partner openly suggesting they wanted
to get their lives back to ‘normal’ immediately. It seemed very odd
for him to even voice such an idea, and even odder for him to tack
on the last part, which sounded as if it had been for their
benefit. “I see. I can understand that.” Sally felt Jack’s eyes
boring into her from the side. She tapped his foot with hers under
the table and watched out of the corner of her eye as his gaze
returned to his notebook.

“Will we have to move out?”

“Yes, for the time being. At
least until the SOCO have completed gathering evidence. That’s not
a problem, is it?”

“No. Mum will have us. Is there
anything else? Only, I better go and pack a bag for Samantha and
me.”

“That’s all for now, I think.
Oh, wait a minute. I’ll need Kathy’s parents’ details, address, and
phone number. We’ll visit them after we leave here.”

“Why? Why do you have to get
them involved?”

Sally’s frown matched Mark’s.
“I don’t understand why you would ask that, Mr. Whiting?”

“They’ve been through enough
lately, what with losing their son in a car crash last month.”

Sally nodded as things cleared
in her mind. “Ah… is that why you delayed telling them at the
hospital last night?”

“Yes. I tend to put others’
feelings before my own, Inspector.”

“I’d still like their details.
It’s our duty to inform the relatives about an ongoing enquiry and
the direction it will take,” she stated, hoping the fib wouldn’t
raise his suspicions too much.

He left the table, went over to
the dresser drawer and removed a small address book. After opening
it to the appropriate page, he handed the book to Jack.

“Thanks,” Jack said once he’d
noted down the information.

“What’s next? Us moving
out?”

“Yes, that will be the next
step. I’d like a word with your mother. Do you think she’s up to
it?”

“I can ask her. I’ll swap
places, go and look after my daughter and send her in, if that’s
okay?”

“Great stuff.”

The instant Mark left the room,
Jack leaned over and said in a hushed voice, “Bit odd what he said
about clearing up the mess quickly, wasn’t it?”

“You spotted that, eh? Hmm…
it’s all sounding very strange to me, and I can’t put my finger on
why. It’s as though Kathy’s being here was some kind of
intrusion—an inconvenience, even. He seems upset enough, but we’ve
seen some award-winning displays of fake emotions over the years,
haven’t we?”

“We have. I’m inclined to
think…” Jack stopped talking as the door eased open, then Yvette
Whiting entered the room.

“Hello, Yvette. Come in. Are
you up to going over the events of yesterday? I’ll make it as brief
as I can.”

“If I must. Your timing could
be better, Inspector. We’ve all lost someone very dear to us.”

“I know. The sooner we get the
investigation underway, the more likely it is that we’ll arrest the
culprit. You can appreciate that, yes?”

“I can. What do you want to
know?”

“Please take a seat.”

Yvette sat opposite Sally and
Jack and began twisting a tissue through her fingers that she was
staring down at. “What can I tell you that Mark hasn’t already told
you, Inspector?”

“We’ll see. As Mark wasn’t on
the premises at the time of the incident and you were, probably a
lot. Why don’t you tell us in your own words what happened?”

One of her hands brushed across
her brow before she plucked up the courage to speak. “Kathy left me
and Samantha in the kitchen to make a telephone call to her boss.
The next thing I know, she shouted at someone, and I heard a lot of
things crashing to the ground.”

“That must have been terrifying
for both you and Samantha. What did you do next?”

“It was. I was in a desperate
quandary. After a few moments’ hesitation, I ran upstairs with
Samantha and locked her in her room, fearing for her safety. When I
came down, I rushed into the lounge to see what was going on.”

“That was brave of you. Can I
ask why you didn’t stay upstairs with your granddaughter?”

She paused for a second then
replied, “Because I wanted to do all I could to help Kathy.”

“That’s very admirable of you.
When you entered the lounge, was the intruder still present?”

“No. I found Kathy lying on the
floor.”

“Mark said that you were
traumatised. Did you approach Kathy at all? To see if she was
conscious?”